best flowers to plant for birds?

Question

i want to plant wild flowers in my garden but i am no alan titmarsh. i want to intice insects and wild birds in to my patch

Answer 1

Hello toggs, good for you! Watching the birds and insects go about their business is great fun. For the birds i would suggest some, or all of the following -



Sunflowers, Teasel, Pampas Grass (they also use it to line their nests), Stipa gigantea, strawberries and other soft fruits. Having a patch of grass is good as blackbirds love searching for worms. And in the middle of it all put a wee bird table with various treats. For the insects i would suggest -



Echinops, Buddleja, Evening primrose, Sweet cicely, Phlox, Foxgloves, Various grasses and anything with single scented flowers. A neat pile of logs that are left to their own devices will attract lots of wildlife, and an old plastic kitchen basin sunk into the ground and filled with rain-water will attract toads and frogs and if you're lucky, Newts. I could go on for ages here! Good luck and have fun, x

Answer 2

Honeysuckle Tree (Mini) not only do the hummingbirds love it but it produces little red cherries that the birds eat. Cotton Easter is another good one, in the fall it also produces little fruit that birds will eat. Sunflowers, bleeding hearts, purple cone flowers, black eyed susans, daisy. I have quite a few mini trees that birds like, Weeping ***** Willow, Fruit producing Mulberry. I hope this helps a bit. There are many, many that attract birds and insects. Have fun!

Answer 3

When it comes to insects, always choose single rather than double flowered varieties. Bright colours attract many insects, scents attract others, night scented types attract moths.

For birds, plant fruit bearing shrubs; redcurrants will bring hordes of birds.

For butterflies, you can't beat buddliea.

Answer 4

Try this website, its really useful for all year round garden tips so that you can get started soon rather than waiting till spring



http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildbritain/gardenwildlife/



Birds need nesting spaces, shelter, food such as berries and seeds as well as insects.



Insects may be attracted to brightly coloured flowers and also require a homes to stems and grasses can provide this as well as cracks in wood, paving, rocks and rotting wood piles.



With a combination of these natural ideas and bird feeders, you should have a flourishing garden soon

Answer 5

There are all kinds of good books out there now for this very thing. I work in a native flower greenhouse and we do this sort of thing all the time. First you need to know what type of soil you have...is it dry...wet or medium(mesic). Next do you have alot of shade or is it all sun or a mix. Here is a list of plants : Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamont) sunny....mesic/dry Petalostemum purpureum (purple prairie clover) sunny--dry

Aquilegia canadensis (columbine) part shade.....mesic

Blazing stars....(there are many different varieties for different areas)

Asclepias Tuberosa(butterfly weed)...sunny...dry...sand

Asclepias Incarnata (red milkweed)...sunny/part shade...wet..mesic

Bouteloua curtipendula(side oats gramma) sunny...dry

Schizachryum scoparium(little bluestem) sunny....dry

Viburnum triloba (american cranberry) part sun/shade...mesic soil...birds love the berries

Sambucus canadensis(elderberry)......part sun/shade...mesic soil birds love the berries

Agastache foeniculum(anise hyssop) sun/part shade.....dry to mesic

Penstemons....different ones but birds and insects love them

Zizia's....there is one for wet areas and one for dry ...insects love them

Rudbeckia Submentosa(sweet black-eyed susan) sun....dry

There are tons more but this is a simple list to get you started.....

Hope it helps....

Answer 6

Plant grevilleas, parrots and nectar feeding birds and insects love them

Answer 7

Mr. Seals. you want to play Frank Zappa and Jefferson airplane track next for your fowl table. in the journey that they close their eyes and look spaced out you may think the fowl seed might want to be nicely worth planting!